NREGA

1. NREGA National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Group 10 Ravi Shanker 280/45 Rahul Meena 276/45 Srikanth Kolli 208/45 Krishnenthu Raja 222/45

3. Wage Employment Programs Historical Perspective • Maharashtra Model • Bureaucracy • Shortage of funds • Lack of right planning • Lack of local focus

4. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) “Act of the people, by the people, and for the people”

5. NREGA - Overview Salient Features • Employment to all those who are willing to work (100 days) • Free registration with a job guarantee within 15 days of application • At least 1/3rd of the employees must be women • Fixed minimum wage rate and no upper limit • Weekly disbursement of wages and delays not beyond a fortnight • Unlimited supply of funds for this project

6. Objective of NREGA Sustained Development Unemployment • Create rural assets • Create livelihood resource base • Restore environment • Enhancement of livelihood security of households • Arrest rural migration

7. Expectations from NREGA • Primary • Supplement employment opportunities • Auxiliary • Regenerate natural resource base • of rural livelihood for sustainable • development • Process Outcomes • Strengthen grass root processes of democracy • Infuse transparency and accountability • in governance

8. NREGA COVERAGE(1st Nationwide employment scheme )

9. State and Local Govt. Roles and Responsibilities

10. State and Local Government State Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (REGS) • 25 per cent of the cost of material and wages for semi-skilled/ skilled workers • Unemployment allowance if the state is unable to provide employment within 15 days • Administrative expenses of the State Employment Guarantee Council

11. Other Institutions

12. Funds

13. Funds NREGA ‘09 Budget Allocation -39,000 Cr. • Central Govt. provides only 75% of the material costs, promoting labour intensive works in NREGA

14. Components of Expenditure • Material Cost • Tamilnadu and Mizoram have achieved almost Zero expense on material • Orissa has high Material expenses owing to “royalties” • Expenditure on Wages • Administrative expenses • Nagaland and Gujarat have high administrative expenses

15. A Snapshot for 07-08

16. Progress Report

17. Implementation & Effectiveness of NREGA 144 Crore person-days of employment 34 Mn Households benefited • Improved – ‘employment per rural household’, share of women in workforce, expenditure per district, share of wages in total expenditure • Decreased % of ST’s benefiting from NREGA • Increase in daily wages by whopping 15% • Improved utilization of funds from 73% to 80%

18. State wise performance

20. State wise performance Leaders Laggards • Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab and West Bengal • Perform worse than previous years • Punjab, Bihar and HP • Less than 33% women workforce • Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh • Account for more than half of the total employment • Haryana and Uttarakhand • Improved Women workforce

21. Participation of Women • Tamil Nadu (82%) • Rajasthan (69%) • Kerala (67%) • Andhra Pradesh (56%) • Karnataka (52%) • Gujarat (49%) • UP (15%) • J&K(1%) WOMEN 43% At least 1/3rd of the beneficiaries shall be women who have registered and requested for work under the Scheme (NREGA ACT, Schedule II, Section 6) Year-2007-08

22. Regenerating Natural Resource Base of Rural Livelihood

23. Community Building Building Rural India

25. Field Visit To Block Office Facts • 3000 beneficiaries in 2009 out of 30,000 bpl households • 10% women < state average of 17% • All projects are on rural connectivity • Rs 80 a day as base • Observations • Central role of Gram Panchayat • Unlimited funds, yet Delays in wage checks and Job cards • No record of measuring asset creation

26. Case : NREGA in Kerala

27. NREGA in Kerala • Highest literacy rate (90.86) • Very high rate of unemployment • Tendency to link literacy to employment (myth) • First implemented on 5th Feb 2006 • Only in 4 districts (Palakkad, Waynad, Idukki and Kasargod) • These districts had very low unemployment rate

28. Major features • Popularity of Trade Unions • Village Panchayats played the pivotal role with the help of technical staffs • Effectiveness of ‘Kudumbasree’ • Organized into Neighborhood group (NHG)  Area Development Society (ADS)  Community Development Society (CDS) • ADS played a pivotal part in NREGA

29. Major features • Focus on eco-restoration works • Wages are paid directly to individual bank accounts

30. Problems • Lag in the implementation (only 4/14 districts)

31. Problems • Minimal participation from SC’s and ST’s • One of the lowest

32. Achievements • Major progresses after 2007 • Total corruption free implementation • Panchayats took the responsibility seriously • Implemented the programme very fast • Effectiveness of Kudumbasree system • Community of poor people • Created a feeling of unity among them • Doing work for their localities created an urgency

33. Achievements • Participation of women • Helped to empower women • Participated in important decisions of her family and society • Equal wage for men and women

34. Achievements Participation of women in NREGA

35. Achievements • Public works done by local peoples • Reduced corruption • Increased urgency • Importance given to natural resource management and environment protection • Setup of Labour Banks • Develop skills of the workers • Panchayats to teach Panchayats

36. Way Ahead

37. Way Ahead • NREGA is here to stay • Monitor the programme effectively • Village level resource planning and development • Other development programs like Bharat Nirman should sync with NREGA • From quantitative employment generation to sustainable development through asset building • Representatives • Proper election and training • More power to Panchayat Raj

38. Thank You